Bernard Hedges is a newly qualified teacher who takes up his first post at Fenn Street Secondary School. He's put immediately in charge of 5C, the most notorious and troublesome class the school has to offer; his near-unwavering naivety and optimism somehow steer him through!

However, Hedges' attachment to 5C is too strong, and when they leave for jobs in the big wide world at the end of Series 3, he finds Fenn Street an unhappy place without his former charges, and quits just a few days into the next term.